Undesired Wishes Come True, Reprise

"By their fruits you will know them" - Matthew 7:16

On Saturday, independent arbitrator Fredric R. Horowitz, "lowered" Alex Rodriguez's PED suspension from 211 games to 162 including all of the 2014 regular and post season.

(While it is a separate topic, it had to send the NFL into a near apoplectic state that on their "best" weekend of football, an ongoing baseball story was eclipsing games that would determine their conference championship participants.)

For me, this isn't really a change.  When the original ruling came down he was banned for the remainder of 2013 and all of 2014 except the postseason, which I find it hard to believe the Yankees will be competing in this year with or without Mr. Rodriguez, but there is another set of issues coming up and it may portend labor strife and the solution was much simpler.

I say labor strife that was until Alex and his lawyers decided to not only sue Major League Baseball, but the Player's Association as well.  This will make for interesting testimony should this ever go to court and I guess we might find out how big and bad baseball really is.

As noted by others, this case has all the hallmarks of a problem prosecution.  First, Major League Baseball had to purchase evidence and pay witnesses.  Those two things don't normally work well in a court of law, even when the evidence and testimony is bought through confidential informants in police investigations.  That issue alone muddies the waters very quickly.

A second part though is where did the 211 game suspension number come from anyway?  The Joint Drug Agreement seems pretty straight forward on performance enhancing drugs that a first offense leads to a 50 game suspension, a second to 100 games, and a third to a lifetime ban.  To my knowledge, Rodriguez has never tested positive for a banned substance, though there is lots of circumstantial evidence in the other direction.

Finally, what evidence did Horowitz find convincing that the player deserved the 162 game suspension?  His decision is sealed though both parties have a copy and it is likely to become public should Rodriguez's suit against baseball ever become public.

The really tawdry part of all this though is Bud Selig and Major League Baseball.  For years, he and the owners prospered as players took steroids and other performance enhancing drugs to make the sport a home run derby game in and game out.  Every change in the game the past several DECADES has been to improve offensive and make the game more "exciting."

As author and blogger Tom Swyers noted recently, MLB is to Arod as Penn State was to Jerry Sandusky.  Both institutions were enablers, while looking the other way.  And in both cases they severely tarnished the images of great institutions.

Moreover, the solution to all this was far simpler.  Rodriguez didn't test positive for a banned substance, so don't suspend him for violating the drug agreement which has pretty specific penalties laid out.  WHAT?  Did I just say that Rodriguez should continue to play ad be part of the problem?

No, I said he shouldn't be suspended for violating the drug agreement.

While MLB was busy purchasing witness testimony and evidence, so was Mr. Rodriguez.  The correct course of action would have been the same that the late Bart Giamatti offered Pete Rose: "fess up or else."  Baseball doesn't need to prove Rodriguez took steroids, they only need to say he lied about it.  In doing so, Selig could avoid suspending him for the use and could ban him for a lifetime under the "good of the game" clause in baseball rules, which is not subject to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  That's right...for impugning the honor of the greatest game, Selig could simply remove ARod from the sport and be done with it.

I am sure his supporters would come to his rescue as they have done with Pete Rose all these years, but these decisions, once made, are usually final.  A nuclear option if you will.  It's too bad Selig surrounded himself with lawyers and not baseball men because the answer was right there.